Mechanism for cutting and pinking fabric



May 14 1940. G. M. HosKwl'rH MEQHANISM FOR CUTTING AND PINKING FABRIC Filed July-420, 1958 4`Sheets-Sheet 1 NVENTOR. gear-'9e m Maskulif'h ATTQRNEYS May 14,1940' l G. M. HosKwrrH 2,200.746

MECHANISM FOR CUTTING AND PINKING FABRIC Filed/July 20, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY/'S MECHANISM FOR`CUTTING AND PINKING FABRIC Filed July 20, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS May M 1940- G. M. HosKwrrH 2,200,746

MECHANISM FOR CUTTING AND PINKING FABRIC Filed July 2o. 1958 v4 sheets-Sheet 4 i I IEJIIY IIIEIHIY Y illllllllllllllllllllmllllllmlllllllillm l///// Www INVENTOR, Fig! 9 rSemrge 777. .H'oskwih BY i ATTORNEYS Patented May 14,' 1940 N UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE George M. Beckwith, New York. N. Y.

Application July20, 1938, Serial No. 220.169

4 Claims.

My invention relates toan improved mechanism for both pinking and cutting cloth along a 'cutting line which is located between the original edges of the cloth.

One of the objects of my invention is to form a series of abutting or overlapping pinking cuts in the body of one or more layers of cloth or other material, between the edges oi' said layer or lay- 'ers, so as to separate the layer or layers into two portions which have pinked edges'.

' Another object is to provide mechanism mounted on a base which can be moved relative to a table or support on which the layer or layers lare located. Another object is to provide improved means whereby the base of the mechamism is moved intermittently, and said base is 'held stationary between intermittent movements.

Other objects will be stated in the following description and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the mechanism whereby one or more layers o f cloth 'are simultaneously out and pinked.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic perspective view illustrating the essential operating parts of the mech- `anism. with the plnking and cutting knife in its bottom position.

' Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the 'knife in its upper position.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view in median longitudinal plane, partially in elevation.

Fig. is a side elevation showing the top shaft of the device.

Fig. d is a pian view of the underside of the base of the device.

Fig. 'l is a sectional view on the line `l-l of Fia. t.

Fig. d is a sectional view on the line 2 8 of Fig. 6. 4

Fig. 01s a detail perspective view showing the pinking knife and the supplemental cutting knife, said supplemental knife operating tov cut any threads which are not cut by the pinking knife.

Fig. 10 is a section on the line iii--lii of Fig.

'4, showing the overlapping of adjacent pinking cuts in the layer or layers of fabric.

It has heretofore been proposed to provide mechanism for pinking the edge of one or more layers of fabric. This is shown in United States Patent #2,052,630 issued on September 1, 1936. However, according to this patent, it was necessary to cut the fabric prior to pinking.

By means of the improved mechanism, one or more layers of fabric are cut and pinked simultaneously and intermediate the edges of said layers so asto produce two pinked edges. and to sever the fabric along the line of cut.

Fig. 4 shows a motor casing i in which a conventional electric motor is located. This motor has `the usual armature shaft 2 on which the usual fan blades 3 are mounted. These fan blades '3 have the function of Ventilating the motor in the usual manner, and the casing i is provided with one or more openings in the usual manner.

, The armature shaft 2 is provided with anti friction bearings 4 at the top and at the bottom of the casing. These anti-friction bearings arr` provided "with the retaining plates 5, which act as seals to retain the lubricant.

The upper end of shaft 2 passes through and it is keyed to a worm which drives the countershaft. As shown in Fig. 2 the worm t is rigidly held on the shaft 2 by means of a lock-nut l which is screwed on a threaded part of said armature shaft` 2 and which abuts the upper end of said worm 0. The lower end of the worm G rests upon a shoulder of the armature shaft 2.

In order to check up the alignment, timing, and. proper operation of the 'parts of the machine, i the armature shaft 2 can be turned manually by means cfa knurled head d which is rigidly connected to the top end of the armature shaft 2.

The wormia` meshes with a driven worm geni' 9. which is keyed to a counter-shaft i0. As shown in Fig. 5, the worm gear 0 abuts a shoulder of the 'counter-shaft iii. The worm gear t is provided with a gear hub il, which is connected to the 'counter-shaft it by means of a pin it. As shown in Fig. 5, the counter-shaft it is provided `with an intermittent driving worm ifi, whose hub is connected to the counter-shaft i0 by means of a pinv it. The thread of said worm iii is inclined to the longitudinal axis of the shaft i0 only along the portion of each turn of the threadof said worm-gear it. This portion of the turn may be one'-third thereof or 120. 'I do not wish to be limited to this specific example but this is the preferred construction.

The inclined portions iia of the thread of the worm gear i4, are shown in Fig. 5. `These inclined portions lila, are continuous with the por tions oi the thread' of the worm gear itl whichV are perpendicular to the axis of the countershaft ill.

The result is to produce an intermittent turning of the gear IB which meshes with the intermittent worm i4, and to hold said worm gear it locked against turning during the major portion of each revolution of the intermittent worm i4. The gear I8 ls located upon a vertical shaft il 'An ordinary torsion spring 22 maintains the clutch I9 in operative position.

The shaft I1 is' provided with a key 23, and the upper part of the clutch is slotted so as to slidably engage said key 23.

The shaftY I8 is keyed to spur-gear 24 which meshes with a companion spur-gear 25. The gear 25 is keyed to a shaft 26. 'I'he gears 24 and 25 can be equal or their pitch circles may have any desired ratio, for the purpose of lengthening or shortening the movement of the machine on the cutting table. As shown in Fig. 4 the shaft 26 passes through a suitable bore of the standard S.

Again referring to Figs. 2 and 7, the shaft 26 is keyed to a bevel gear 21 at its lower end and this, bevel gear 21 meshes with a bevel gear 28 which is keyed tothe shaft 29. The shaft 29 may be designated as the propelling shaft. It is provided with one or more propelling wheels 30, which are keyed thereto. 'Ihe wheel or wheels 30 contact with a suitable cutting table'T so as tov move the entire mechanism intermittently relative to said table. rubber tires which project slightly below every A other part of the base 60 in order to give traction.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 4, the shaft I8 is provided with a crank-disc 3l. The crank-disc 3| is provided with .a crank pin 32, on which the usual connecting rod 33 is pivotally mounted. The lower end of the connecting rod 33 is turnably connected to the stud of a cross-head 34, which is guided in suitable slide bearings 35. The guides or slide bearings 35 are rigidly connected to the frame of the machine.

The cross-head 34 is provided with a clamp 36 for releasably engaging the pinking knife 31. The contour of said pinking knife 31 is substantially the same as that of the pinking knife which is shown in said United States Patent #2,052,630.

However, in the present embodiment, the upper end of the pinking knife is engaged between the two halves of a clamp 36, instead of being held in position by means of a screw.

The knife 31 can be made by suitably machining the lower portion of arod having a square cross section so that the lower portion will have a V section and the upper end of said knife 31 has a. square crass section and said upper end can be engaged emciently by the two halves of the.

clamp 36, whichfare held together by screws as shown.

The supplemental straight edge knife 318 is suitably connected to the cross-head 34 so 'that the knives 31 and 38 are moved up and down in unisonl by said cross-head 3d. The supplemental knife 36 may be integral with the pinking knife 31.

Referring to Fig. 9 the supplemental knife 33 moves slidably between guide members 39 which are provided in the standard S. 'I'hese guide members 39 are secured to the standard S, by means of rivets 40. The guide members may be omitted and knife 38 can operate in standard S.

As shown in Figfil thesupplemental knife '38 isl provided with a cutting edge 4 I at its bottom and with the same radius of the crank-disc 3i.

The wheels 38 may have said cutting edge is preferably of generally concave shape and its heel is lower than the outer point thereof. Said cutting edge may have any shape, including a straight shape.

The link 42 is held non-turnably relative to `the crank-pin 32 by means of a screw which passes through crank-pin 32. The link 42 has arecessed portion Iwhich fits over the rectangular end of 'crank-pin' 32. The median' longitudinal line of the link 42'will therefore always coincide The connecting rod 43 is turnably connected to the vfree end of the link 42 by means of a screw 44.

The center of the shank of the screw 44 is spaced fromthe center of the disc 3|. Therefore, the axis of the screw 44 will move through a circular path of a smaller radius than the axis of the crank-pin 32, when the crank-disc 3| is turned. Therefore, the connecting rod 43 has a smaller throw than the connecting rod-33.

Pin 45, which isy integral with member 46, is turnably located in connecting rod 43 and is held in turnable relation to connecting rod 43 by a screw or other suitable member. Rod 41 passes slidably through the member 46` and through suitable bearings 49, which are provided in the frame of the machine.

A set screw having a knurled head 48 holds the rod 41 in ladjusted position relative to the member 46. The rod 41 is held against turning by providing said rod 41 with a suitable vertical keyway or groove which is slidably engaged by the end of an adjustable screw 58, having a turned down point to fit said keyway in ro'd 41.

The rod 41 is provided with a 'slidable collar clamp 5I, which can be clamped to or released from rod 41 by means of a butterfly head-screw 52. Springs 53 and 54 are mounted upon the rod 41. The upper end of the spring 53 abuts the underside of the member 46 and the lower end of the spring 53 abuts the upper surface ofl the collar clamp 5I. The ends of the spring 54 respectively abut the collar clamp 5I and the bearing 49.' When the set screw which has the knurled head 48 is tightened so as to clamp the rod 41, the collar clamp 5I is loosened by the operator. The bottom end of the rod 41 is connected to a presser-foot P. When the rod 41 is rigidly connected to the vertical member 46 by means of screw 48 the presser-foot P is moved down rigidly in unison with the lmember 46 so as to exert unyielding pressure on certain kinds of material, therefore holding the material tightly in position while it is being cut and in order to prevent the material from creeping.

When the screw which has the knurled head 48 is loosened and the clamp 5I is tightened, the downward movement of the member 46 compresses the upper spring 53 against the tightened clamp 5I downwardly which in turn compresses lower spring 54 against bearing 49, thus moving the rod 41 downwardly, under yielding spring pressure. 'I'his provides a lighter yielding spring pressure on vcertain kinds of materials such as cotton, gingham or other hard and 'unyielding materials. The rigid connection between the member 46 and the rod 41 is utilized in the cut-` ting of flannel. and other similar soft materials.

The lower end of the rod 41 is connected rigidly to a member 56 of the presser-foot P. The pin 55 is turnably mounted in said member 56. Levers 51 are connected to the pin 55 so that the levers 51 are turnable relative to member The presser-foot wheels 58 are turnably mounted on the levers 51 and are adjusted by means of screws 48 and 52 to rest intermittently on the material to be cut. The levers 51 are connected by a cross-rod 59 andthe member 56 is provided with blade-springs 59a which abut said cross-member 59, so as to offer yielding resistance to the up and down movement of the levers `51 relative to the member 56. Pin 68 limits the movement of levers 51.

The base 88 is connected to the standard S by means of screws 60a. The underside of said base 60 is provided with idler wheels 8l which are connected turnably to the ends of fiat blade against the table T by means of a wire spring 81, The forward movement of base 80 will cause flap 64 to slide under the bottom layer of material and to raise the layer or layers to cutting position.

As shown in Fig. '1, the bottom end of the standard S is provided with a recess in order to accommodate the drive wheel 88 and the gears 28 and 21. 88, in order to provide a housing for the gears 21 and 28 to keep the lint from interfering with the normal operation of the gears and drive wheel. Plate 68 may also act as a retainer for grease in which the gears operate.

The base extension lflap 64 is provided with a top fiat or planar portioxrof substantially uniform width and with two side portions' of substantially triangular shape converging at or near front edge of iiap 64. Therefore, the layers of cloth are raised along the inclined planar central portion and the plnking and the resultant cutting take place behind the rear end of this top panel on a line which is in the same plane with the median longitudinal line of said top portion.

Referring to Fig. 8, the standard S is provided with a recess 1li and a die 1I isl located in said recess. The pinking kni'fe and the cutting knife cooperate with suitable openings in the die 1I and standard S. As shown in Fig. 6,'the die 1I is provided with a triangular opening for cooperating with the pinking knife. The cross-section of said triangular opening increases down- Wardly for lint clearance. The die 1| is held in position by means of screws 1.2. The underside of the base is also provided with a space Sa to permit the escape of the lint as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 6.

In operating the device, one or more layers of material to be cut are placed upon a cutting table T. The motor is then started, thus causing the entire mechanism to move intermittently and to be locked between intermittent movements. Portions of the layers of material are raised on the upwardly sloping extension of the base until the portions of the layers of material which are to be cut are located above the die 1l.

The pinking knife operates in advance of the supplementalcutting knife so as to form a series vof angular or arcuate cuts C, as shown in Figs. 9 and 10. The individual pinking cuts are madeby a blade whose edge is not a single straight line. In the embodiment disclosed, the combined cutting and pinking edge hasa plurality of straight A plate 68 is connected to the base line portions which are inclined to each other. For the purposes of the claims, a pinking cut which does not consist solely of a single straight line may be defined as non-rectilinear. `The distance between the tips of the cut may be defined as the lengthof the cut. The base portions of these cuts C slightly. overlap each other at the points'Ca. Hence the length of a pinking cut is at least equal to, and preferably greater than, the intermittent movement of the machine between successive pinking cuts, so that successive pinking cuts either abut each other or overlap,

so as to cut through the layers and also pink the cut edges. This overlap of the pinklng cuts C causes said cuts positively to sever the fabric and to simultaneously form the pinked edges which arc shown in Fig. 1. Due t many conditions, it is' possible that the overlapping of the plnking cuts C at the points Ca may not be sufficient and that a few fibres of the fabric may remain unsevered. The supplemental knife 38 has the function of cutting these unsevered threads.

The layers of cloth are held stationary on the table while the mechanism travels through the layers of cloth in order to pink them and thus cut them.

The presser-foot maintains the layers of cloth under suitable pressure, depending upon the type of material which is beingv utilized, while the pinking cuts are being made.

The presser-foot comes into action preferably before each pinking cut is made and it holds the layers of cloth down while the pinking cut and leave the fabric before the pressure of the press- A er-foot is released. The mechanism is fed forwardly in its intermittent movement while the presser-foot and the knives-are absolutely free from the fabric.

` The operator can hold the fabric down in advance of the mechanism or this can be done by any suitable means.

Suitable weights can be placed upon the layers of fabric in advance of the mechanism.

When it is desired to move the mechanism freely on its four idler rollers 6I, the shaft 2|) is manually actuated so as to unclutch the shafts l1 and I8, thus releasing the gear 24 from the motor drive.

As shown in Fig. 10 standard S .is wedge-shaped in horizontal cross-section, so as to separate the cut plurality of layers of material and that pinked edges will clear the knife 38. The said knife 38 only cuts the fibres which are not severed by the pinking cuts. The motor casing E has a guard-sleeve Ik which encloses gear I6, shafts I1 and l8,`clutch coupling i9 and gear 24. The

motor-actuated means therefore move the pinking knife back-and-forth in a predetermined path above the base of the mechanism. Said` `motor-actuated means are located and adapted to clear the fabric during the intermittent movements of the base. The standard S is also "shaped .to permit the cut portions of the fabric to .di-

Referring to Figs.

tion of each turn thereof perpendicular to the cutting line which is located between the original edges of the layer or layers of fabric.

While I have shown a complete and preferred embodiment of my invention, numerous changes and omissions can be made without departing from its spirit.

I claim:

1. A cutting and pinking mechanism adapted to cut and pink a plurality of layers of material by a succession of pinking cuts, comprising a base, a propelling wheel mounted on said base, drive mechanism mounted on said base to actuate said propelling wheel intermittently so as to move said base intermittently, a motor mounted above said base, an upright standard supporting said motor, drive means forming a connection between the motor and said drive mechanism, cutting means vertically reciprocable relative to said base and standard, said cutting means and standard and the part of said drive means which` is located between the top and bottom of said standard lying substantially in a common plane in substantially the line of travel of said base,

a and means actuated by said motor for vertically casing of the motor and adapted to disengageA the clutch to thereby arrest movement of said propelling wheel. l

4. A cutting and pinking mechanism adapted to cut and vpink a plurality of layers of material by a. succession of pinking cuts, comprising a base, a propelling wheel mounted on said base, drive mechanism mounted on said base to actuate said propelling wheel intermittently so as to move said base intermittently, a motor mounted above said base, an upright standard supporting said motor, a drive mechanism forming a connection between the motor and drive means, the part of said driye mechanism which is lo- Icated between the top and bottom of said standard being housed by-said standard, cutting means vertically reciprocable relative to said base and standard, said cutting means, said part of `the drive mechanism and standard lying .substantially in a'common plane in substantially the line of travel of said mechanism, and means actuated by said motorl for ,vertically reciprocating said cutting means.

' GEORGE M. HOSKWITH.

I axis of its shaft and having another portion of 

